Ghetto Palms: Heatstroke Riddim / Tiger Balm / Tic Toc

Every week resident FADER selector Eddie STATS runs through dancehall riddims and other artifacts from the ghetto archipelago.

Usually I come up with little themes or sub-atomic genre designations (you know, like "Gun-drop" or "Afro-trance") for every mix I do on Ghetto Palms, partly because half the time these things are just sketches or outtakes from a larger mix CD concept I’m working on. If I had to do that for this week’s blend, the micro-genre would probably called traphall (or maybe synthhall), ‘cause all the tunes included are like grandbabies of the Acid Hall (see above) riddim Salaam Remi did back when. But truth be told it's just some shit that all flows together, the only real common thread is that its all new or currently bubbling and within the same spectrum of tempo and feel.

The stand out, both category and quality wise would have to be Busy Signal’s “Tic Toc,” which could very well be a follow-up single to “Jail” (which recently made the transition from internet video hit to NY mixshow radio and will probably driving the buzz around Busy’s forthcoming LP, slated to drop September 9th). “Tic Toc” is produced by Shawn Scott of SSMG—also credited on the brilliant “Cool Baby,” though Busy told me he played the synth on that himself—and takes the same JA rap approach Busy used there and on “These Are The days” (he actually flows kind of like a Busta type rapper on the intro bars) but applies it to a much more club crossover type beat; the kind of track you easily hear MIA guesting on if you squint your ears. (Just a suggestion, VP, take it or leave it).

The Heatstroke riddim from Chimney records is the glue that holds all this material together though, the latest from relative new-dudes production crew comprising Jordan Mclure and Jordan “Hizzle” Hayle. The crazy double time and "everything plus the kitchen sink" range of sounds is reminiscent of recent Big Ship riddims like Work Out but it moves more like a classic '90s beat like the Grass Cyaat. The bashment feel is a departure from the thug vibes the duo has laced for Bounty Killer on "Tell Dem” and the Linkin Park remake on “Mash Yuh Works” which I included in the all-Demarco blend on Ghetto Palms #8. Anyway they must be on a wavelength with Demarco because although Heatstroke has a full run of powerful tunes, his “We Deyah” might be strongest, and one of my favorite of his recent tunes, which is saying a lot considering doops is himself one of Kingston’s hottest producers right now.

Last but not least come two cuts from Don Corleone’s brilliantly named Tiger Balm riddim; Vybz Kartel’s “Million by a Morning” and “Regular Basis” by Munga. This version is actually the most traphall of the lot, really capturing the slo-motion rave feel of recent stateside joints like “Haters Everywhere”, “Love in this Club”, or Danja’s synths on “My Love” but with an offbeat bass pulse that a dancehall deejay can still fuck with.